Current Events > Mallard plays Earthbound Beginnings: kickin' the shit outta stray dogs

(+) Yeah! (+)

Never played the Earthbound games, been spoiled for all of them. Gonna play them all anyway because I've been on an RPG kick lately and the addition of the NES and SNES Earthbound games to NSO makes them the most accessible they've ever been to me.

So far the music is good, the battle themes have more variety than most RPGs to this day. There's the classic Hippie battle theme, but there's also two different battle themes between like stray dogs and snakes and stuff. I imagine there's more where that came from too.

I grinded until I got the Wooden Bat, on my way to the graveyard to save that kid.

If you're coming in to say "play Earthbound instead, it's better and you'll hate Beginnings and never want to play Earthbound" - first of all, I've tried to play Earthbound multiple times over the years and it never stuck; I'm hoping this time will be the charm. Secondly, I've read about how this game is very open ended and lacking the structure of future games - I'm approaching this with the same mindset as Dragon Quest 1, which is a game I finished and liked quite a lot, and which I understand was the inspiration behind Earthbound Beginnings. So if you're just going to recommend playing Earthbound proper, don't even post. I don't want to hear it.

It's Dragon Quest but worse

I can't stand how obscure it is to know where to go at all times lol

i remember playing earthbound in like 95 i think with friends. it was so fun. i tried playing it recently and it just doesn't feel the same. meh.

There are fanmade patches for Earthbound Zero to make it better. Did Nintendo do any of this?

Garioshi posted...

It's Dragon Quest but worse

I'll be the judge of that, if nothing else it already has more variety in its graphics and music. It also has multiple enemies on screen at once, and a party system.

I love Mother 1/EBB and think it's severely underappreciated.

The game has a few absolutely brutal surprises, though. Good luck!

Lost_All_Senses posted...

I can't stand how obscure it is to know where to go at all times lol

there is literally an npc that tells you where all the melodies are

earthbound beginnings is kind of annoying and not all that fun but it's very endearing so it's hard to hate

Have fun with Duncan's Factory, may God have mercy on your soul.

Hey, so uhh. I listened to a singing monkey, then I crossed a previously guarded border to find a cave. Then I used telepathy on a conch shell and got transported to Heaven.

Oh fucking boy. The Earthbound weirdness has begun.

MrMallard posted...

If you're coming in to say "play Earthbound instead, it's better and you'll hate Beginnings and never want to play Earthbound" - first of all, I've tried to play Earthbound multiple times over the years and it never stuck; I'm hoping this time will be the charm.

Sadly EBB is way harder to play and get into. You should really get a guide for the game.

MrMallard posted...

Hey, so uhh. I listened to a singing monkey, then I crossed a previously guarded border to find a cave. Then I used telepathy on a conch shell and got transported to Heaven.

Oh fucking boy. The Earthbound weirdness has begun.

If you don't mind minor gameplay spoilers: you may as well grind for three sets of the best armor while you're here. There is literally no other protective gear in the game, and it's kind of annoying to backtrack here later.

but yeah Magicant is a trip lol

Fun game.
It's real fucking hard and easy to get lost.

Illuminoius posted...

there is literally an npc that tells you where all the melodies are

earthbound beginnings is kind of annoying and not all that fun but it's very endearing so it's hard to hate

Does he give details or just give you a general idea? I don't remember that person. Does he talk in riddles? I'll admit, I play emus in really broken up inconsistent manners. So, it probably is mostly on me. But, I'm not the only one playing an old ass NES game with other stuff going on lol. It's the attention span of a lot of us >_>. I also play a lot when Im tired and smoked out :p

I was about to ask for help in solving the Magicant palace riddle, but then I used telepathy and it worked. I thought the Red Weeds would factor into it, but apparently not.

Also the inside of the palace looks pretty great for NES.

I will ask, what's the best item to take in the treasure room with six presents? I'm thinking either the Ruler, Boomerang or PSI Stone.

Blue_Target posted...

Sadly EBB is way harder to play and get into. You should really get a guide for the game.

I'm actually enjoying it a fair bit. It's got a lot of character, but it's also an okay game to grind and watch YouTube videos/listen to podcasts as you play.

Like I've played Dragon Quest 1 and 2 and I like them both a fair amount. Earthbound Beginnings is fine - I saved the kid from the cemetary, that gave me the zoo key, and now I'm in heaven because I communicated telepathically with a conch shell. Perfectly cromulent game experience so far.

ruler is a meme item

I decided to do some googling, and the Boomerang is the best item to get, hands down. Second strongest weapon for Ninten/Mallard? Fuck yes.

Anyway, if I'm gonna get all the armor and stuff here in Magicant, is there a way for me to use my Cash Card and get all my money?

Oh god, the aliens invaded while I was in heaven! Shit's fucked!!

The hell? The Merrysville doctor charges you for half of your money. He was gonna charge me $250, then I withdrew a bunch of money, then he was charging me $1500. The audacity of this asshole, lmao. Gonna go back there with 2 bucks.

Somebody gave me a cold, and my inventory is full so I'm fucked.

MrMallard posted...

Anyway, if I'm gonna get all the armor and stuff here in Magicant, is there a way for me to use my Cash Card and get all my money?

I dont know if you found it, but I think there was an NPC that acts as an ATM. But yeah, the game is pretty good at low-key developing the story in the background. It's something I love about old-school RPGs.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


My "favorite" part of the game's idea of balance is introducing the asthma mechanic right when you need Ninten to carry new, first level party members. >_>

I'm at Duncan's Factory, and whoever wished me luck here is appreciated. This place is a goddamn maze. Fucking massive, so many floors to explore and shit.

I've been using the rewind feature a lot thanks to PK Beam and Bombers.

I'm at the rusty old rocket on the top floor. Do I need Lloyd to do something here? I'm assuming he's on a lower floor that I missed because I gunned it straight for the top of the factory.

Seriously, where the hell is Lloyd? This factory level sucks lmao

So uhh. I googled Lloyd. Turns out he's back at the school hiding in a trash can. Goddamnit.

Edit: okay, this part with the janitor has been really funny and cute. He just complains about his wife, and if you say she sounds terrible, he gets pissed off and shoos you away. This is fantastic.

Alright, so for no reason I decided to walk from Merrysville to Reindeer. Had to rewind a LOT, leveled up like three times getting there. I have no idea what the deal is with Reindeer, so I got on a train to Union and walked to Youngtown.

This is an eerie plot development, but I also used telepathy on a baby who gave me the ability to teleport to towns I've been to before.

I'm using a guide now. The frigging cactus one is bizarre, like this is some schoolyard rumor bullshit.

The game's lost a bit of its lustre, though I still think it has a great sense of humour.

I've been reading about the game, and honestly I do think it's ahead of its time. Non-linearity to the point of aimlessness is an issue, but I do have to commend MOTHER's seamless world map. I also think that the tone of the game is pretty decent.

It absolutely does have caveats, but I still think that for a NES game, MOTHER is pretty fantastic. It looks and sounds great, the game world is massive and the tone is pretty entertaining. It's aimless to the point of being detrimental, but it's still good and its innovations are no less impressive.

Just got Teddy. I named all my characters differently, was gonna name Ana Suzy but there's a named character named Suzy so I had to change it to Vana. Ninten became Mallard, of course, Lloyd became Farley and Teddy became Chogus.

Since you mentioned the humor, have there been any bits that stood out to you?

One of my favorite parts are the NPCs. You find some real interesting weirdos in this game. >_>

Kim_Seong-a posted...

Since you mentioned the humor, have there been any bits that stood out to you?

One of my favorite parts are the NPCs. You find some real interesting weirdos in this game. >_>

A standout moment is the janitor who lets you onto the Merrysville school roof. He bitches about his wife a bunch, but when he asks you if she sounds terrible and you agree with him, he gets upset with you and tells you to scram.

But also, the game really sets the tone from the beginning when you have that first moment of control - you walk around, you look at things, and as you're going to leave you get attacked by a lamp. It's a very funny and abrupt start to such an old game, games from back then have a rigidity to them that Earthbound Beginnings immediately discards.

I also really appreciate how goofy the enemies are, like the cars and trucks are one thing but why the fuck are coils of rope walking around on two legs? I like that on top of these weird ass robots with PK powers, you have to beat the fuck out of dozens of mad scientists who reside in an abandoned factory.

I like that you get a free heal after listening to a fisherman ramble about his fishing until the sun comes up, and while it would be a total pain in the ass without rewind functionality - which I've been abusing like a motherfucker - I kind of love how talking to random NPCs has a chance of infecting you with a cold.

I understand that EarthBound is touted as this watershed moment of emotional storytelling and unrestrained absurdism, a signal flare in the minds of many that resulted in a wave of independent successors to mixed results. Going back to the NES game, many people consider it a step back - which it is, in the same way Dragon Quest 1 is a step back from Dragon Quest 2.

But without that baggage, Earthbound Beginnings has a chance to shine on its own merits, to rely on its own character. And sometimes that character is finding a nerd in a trashcan on top of a school to escape bullies, only to find that nerd's dad hiding in a separate trashcan on the other side of America for no reason. It's going from a city defined by poverty to a city of dine-and-dashers and con artists emboldened by incompetent/corrupt police, to a town of lost children whose parents have all been abducted by aliens to their panic and chagrin.

It's the audacity of this NES game to break significant rules of the JRPG format and take on a wholly original tone and a wacky, cartoons aesthetic inspired by classic Americana that makes it such an entertaining game. Maybe not as entertaining as a party member named Poo, but legitimately disarming with its comedy juxtaposed with its willingness to poke at darker subject matter from beginning to end. And I get that EarthBound is the bar at which Earthbound fans set their expectations, but I don't have that bar to meet.